Eliminated Football Roundup: Week 16

 

As the playoff picture is becoming a lot more clear, we've got a lot more entries in this week's roundup of customs for eliminated teams. 

First off, the Vikings celebrated Christmas by being slaughtered by the playoff-bound New Orleans Saints. The Vikes were never a serious threat in the NFC North, despite some strong games from Dalvin Cook making him a league-wide threat, but they were capable of some clutch wins and some great moments. None of which happened in this Saints matchup. The good news is that the Vikings put up 33 points, but Alvin Kamara had the bigger game and waltzed past them for 52. 

The 49ers were one of a few eliminated teams that managed to not only squeak out a win this week but outdo some stacked odds against them. On Amazon Prime on Saturday, the tech-savvy 49ers looked to be a wash for Kyler Murray and the Cardinals, but C.J. Beathard, the Niners' third-string QB, powered the Niners to a win thanks to TWO Kyle Juszczyk touchdowns [man, I'm glad I made one of him last week], and some intriguing defensive work. This is still a flawed team that'll need some work done in the offseason, but they can still upset a potential playoff team, which is nice. 

Similarly, another wild card team, the Miami Dolphins, managed to overcome an early lead by the onetime playoff threats the Las Vegas Raiders and eliminate the black and silvers from the picture themselves. It was a frustrating moment from Carr, Jacobs and the Raiders, a team that had come so close to legitimacy, going toe-to-toe with Kansas City and great teams before coming into some truly bad luck recently. Despite some great work from Nelson Agholor, it was a game of field goals, and a drive with 19 seconds left gave it to Tua and his Dolphins. 

The Bengals at this point have just decided to be a furiously alright bad team. Yes, they're not much without Joe Burrow, but they still have guys like Tyler Boyd and Samaje Perine who can run the opposition out of breath. This week, it was the still-terrible Houston Texans they were up against, and despite the usual good effort from Deshaun Watson and J.J. Watt, the Bengals still outscored Houston, even led by Brandon Allen, the backup. While they may not be good enough to, you know, compete, the Bengals can still win games...just, against equally bad teams, it seems.

In a battle between two losing AFC West teams, it was the one with the all-but-certain Rookie of the Year that reigned supreme. What surprised me the most about this one was that it was a genuine QB battle- Herbert and Lock were both doing pretty damn well, despite the lower score. Though Melvin Gordon still had the best day with 79 rushing yards, Herbert and Austin Ekeler had the bigger day, and the win. Hopefully if the right people stay intact, the Chargers will be able to compete relatively soon, because Herbert is definitely the answer.

Leave it to the Carolina Panthers to keep the NFC East waiting game going for another week. In a fierce battle against the Washington Nonames, Teddy Bridgewater had another strong performance, Robby Anderson had another TD to add to his strong season, and Curtis Samuel had the best stats of the day. The Nonames will need to punch their ticket to the postseason with a win over Philadelphia...

Which should be relatively easy, given that Philadelphia can't seem to want to win anyway. The Eagles could have made a huge statement against the Cowboys this week. The Cowboys were starting ANDY DALTON for crying out loud. This was a golden opportunity. And yet despite Jalen Hurts' continued startership, the Cowboys STILL outscored the Eagles by 20 points and eliminated them from the playoff conversation. It was a game marred by the Eagles' lack of any defensive prowess due to injuries. Not even a much-needed TD from DeSean Jackson could help our case any. It was pitiful, and I'm sad I even wasted time believing they could actually do anything. 

Next week, we decide not only the NFC East champion, but the owner of that all-too-important AFC Wild Card spot. It'll be interesting to see who comes out on top. 

Super Bowl 50: Notes from the Inside

Five Years ago, in Dallas, TX, I witnessed one of the more exciting Super Bowls in recent history firsthand. The Packers took down Pittsburgh, and I was there to see it.

Three Years ago, in East Rutherford New Jersey, I witnessed one of the most boring Super Bowls in recent history firsthand. The Seahawks were winners from the get go, and they spent all four quarters mercilessly hitting the Broncos down. And I was there to see it.

Two days ago...in Santa Clara, California...yep, you're damn right I was there.

As usual, I'll detail my journey from my hotel in Milpitas to the game, and how everything went from the perspective of a lowly blogger in the 200 level.



My companion for this Super Bowl was my friend Evan, who I knew through the age old excuse of "our dads work together". Evan and I began the morning taking a shuttle out to the TLA stop. The TLA, which is a very cool little train system in the San Jose area, was smooth, and dropped us off with more than enough room to get to the stadium. Only problem is we got there a tiny bit before 11:00 AM, which means the gates technically weren't open yet, so we had no choice but to slam ourselves into a throng of determined fans.

Speaking of fans, if you were to measure from just the crowd waiting to go through security alone, you would think that the Broncos to Panthers ratio was pretty even. Where I was, there was an even amount of orange-navy and blue-silver. I, however, not one to join some bandwagon for a single game, took the historian approach- I wore an old Mitchell & Ness 1969 Bart Starr jersey. Like with my Strahan jersey at the '13 Bowl, I was approached with one or two 'you're at the wrong Super Bowl' messages. To which I'd cheekily respond "No, I'm a year early", or "Actually I'm 49 years late".

One guy, working for the stadium, was commenting on people's wardrobe as they went in, be it Broncos or Panthers. Once he got to me, his jubilance turned to confusion very quickly. "Oh, and here's a Broncos fan, go Broncos, oh, and here's the Packers...PACKERS?...I mean..." It cracked me and Evan up.

Once we got past security, we made our way around the stadium to the Tailgate Party (How we got in I'll never tell), which was pretty nice. Seal was the main entertainment, which...baffled all of us. At least he was pretty cool, and still performed well.

The Tailgate Party was a nice diversion, but we finally got to our seats about an hour before start-time, which, as they told us, was 3 PM. Our seats were in the corner of the Broncos' end zone, up a level. Prime position, given the circumstances. We sat, waiting, watching the people enter, watching more and more Broncos fans fill the seats, watching the roars grow louder and louder whenever a Broncos player appeared on the 'tron.

Inside the stadium, they'd momentarily cut to two CBS people, whose sole purpose was to repeat information that was already well-known throughout the game, like what had happened in each quarter, or what to do during the halftime show, which was a point that was already pretty hammered-in. It got to the point where, at their 3rd or 4th appearance, I was already shouting "GO AWAY!"

Speaking of the halftime show, the entire audience would be involved in a huge stunt where two huge-stadium-wide pictures would be shown. There was a video which, step-by-tantalizing-step, detailed the entire process of taking a poster-board card out of the package, holding it up at one point, putting it down, and putting it back up on the other side at the end. It was so dumbed down, with a video of an example audience cheerily taking party, that by the end someone in the audience sarcastically yelled "SHOW IT AGAIN, THAT WAS HYSTERICAL!"

Eventually we got to the National Anthem, which Lady Gaga absolutely rocked, and the unveiling of 50 years of Super Bowl MVPs. Surprisingly, the man whose number I was wearing, Bart Starr, was one of the few not in the building. There were boos at the arrival of Tom Brady, and cheers at Eli's arrival, save for a few people in my section. "What?", one said, "I'm from Philly." "So am I, but even I still think he's okay," I replied.



Eventually the game began, with both fan bases loudly making their cases known. There were several "KEEP! POUNDING!" chants from the audience going, and several chants from Broncos fans as well, more of them probably, because they dominated most of the audience. You could tell, because whenever the Broncos got a point, or the Panthers got a penalty, the audience would erupt in applause. This was a Denver-led crowd, of people that didn't travel as far and stayed together, and thereby helped decide the outcome of the game.

The first bit of the game did have a ton of really fun games. The Broncos sacked Cam Newton, he fumbled the ball, and the Broncos leapt into the end zone to grab the ball and score a touchdown. The Panthers scored their first (and eventually only) touchdown with a gigantic leap over the blockers into the end zone. Newton had a lot of huge throws, and the Denver Defense had a lot of great plays, smacking Cam around whenever they could.

Unlike the 2013 Bowl, one team stayed in control for most of it, but there was still intrigue and question, for most of the game, as to whether or not they'd stay in front. The Broncos started out ahead, but the Panthers came charging, not stopping until the end, and powering through some tough situations.

It was really exciting to watch, because both teams had some nice power plays, some great drives. It wasn't a blowout, it was a fair fight that ended because one guy was on top from the beginning.



I should probably talk about halftime, because I don't know how it came out on TV, but from Levis Stadium it was pretty damn cool. It helps that I'm a big Coldplay fan (I know), and that Chris Martin was more energetic than he's been since Gwyneth broke up with him, but also the big image that we helped create was pretty cool, too.

Once Bruno Mars showed up and did Uptown Funk the audience erupted and sang along in a big way. But then Beyonce popped up, and the day was hers. The tron stopped broadcasting for us when she went on, as if to say "just look at her for yourselves, dammit!" And yeah, even if I'm not a big fan of this Formation number, she was pretty awesome.

The very last part, when Beyonce, Bruno and Coldplay united to sing 'Up and Up' as kids ran around the field and the audience held up a picture reading "Love is Everywhere" or something, gave me chills. I don't care who you are- it was this big, colorful awesome moment that everybody must have eaten up, regardless of whether or not you like Coldplay.



The rest of the game was more of the same. The Broncos held onto the lead, the Panthers tried but fell apart. My section ended up starting a 'Fly Eagles Fly' chant out of desperation. And Cam Newton chose not to go for a fumble that eventually decided the outcome of the game.

Eventually the Broncos were deemed victorious, and Peyton Manning became the first quarterback to take two different teams to a Super Bowl and win. It was nice to see him win one more time, and even if I'd gone in rooting for Carolina, I could respect a Denver win simply for Peyton, and for the fans that had been waiting since the 90's. He hinted that he'd be mulling it over, but I'm pretty sure Peyton Manning's going to retire. He has to. He was already a Hall of Famer before he put on a Broncos uniform.

Evan and I stayed for the trophy ceremony, and we watched as most of the stadium booed Roger Goodell. We realized that we'd just witnessed a pretty awesome Super Bowl, 50 or no. And then we left to catch the TLA.

And that was how my Super Bowl went.

Leftovers

 I was going to do a whole series of football customs after the Super Bowl, but I never got around to it, so here are some football cards I never posted. A shame, too, because this one's pretty nice.

 I shelved this one after the Steelers fell off the face of the earth, though he still had a nice season.

 Great custom, but I never had a reason to post it after October.

I was literally going to post this one if the Broncos won it, and this is a pretty awesome custom, but I forgot to do Seahawks customs, which fits, because...they ended up winning the whole thing.

I doubt I'll be making anymore football customs until next season, so...sorry everyone I didn't customize. Especially Shady, as he deserved one.

Thoughts on an impending Super Bowl

So, this is happening.

I know it isn't the least bit shocking that we have a Broncos-Seahawks Super Bowl on our hands, but let's at least pretend like it is. Pretend like we had absolutely no idea that in September the two best teams would make it to February.

This is gonna be tough.

Anyway, I am happy that both of these teams made it, because they were both better than the alternatives. I would not have liked a Pats-Niners series, because it would just be 3 hours of Harbaugh yelling and Belicheck glaring. Also, if the Pats won, uuuggghhhh.

So, now you're probably wondering who I want to win. Well, I'll make it simple. My uncle is a lifetime Seahawks fan, and he has endured so much shit over the last few decades that I've come to feel sorry for him. Especially after Brian Bosworth's acting career. So I have to say the Seahawks, because they seem like the more fun team, Sherman nonwithstanding.

I don't know, it could really go either way. It could be Peyton's game, or it could be Wilson's. I mean, there is only one way to find out. And I am relatively close to finding out close-hand.

AFC Championship- Man, this QB matchup looks familiar

We've seen this a million times, because this is what happens in January. Tom Brady HAS to play Peyton Manning. It's a law. Goodell decreed it. It must happen, which is why it's happening again.

It's not like the outcome's set in stone too. What makes it so riveting is the fact that both of these teams have won, and it can lead to a Super Bowl matchup, or just a plain old Super Bowl loss, which both are becoming very accustomed to.

So, who do I think is going to win today? To quote Bill Murray in Moonrise Kingdom, that's a loaded question.

Who I want to win: Broncos

Ever since they took down my Eagles in 2005, I have had an extreme hatred for the New England Patriots. Even in matchups with the Dallas Cowboys, I want them to lose. So naturally, in terms of favorability, the Broncos have the edge. I don't even have to like them, they're just better than the Patriots.

Who the sportswriters say will win: Broncos.

Because they've been predicting it from the start, and because they don't want to back off of that.

Who I really don't want to win: Patriots.

Because if they win, odds are the Super Bowl will be very tough, and there's a chance of them getting a fourth ring. Three is enough. The Packers have four, and that's one more than them. I would like the fact to remain that the Packers have won more Super Bowls than the Patriots.

Who should win: Patriots.

Because they have enough speed, enough veterans, and enough general effort to potentially befuddle the Broncos. I'm not saying I'm for this, I'm saying that I have a sneaking suspicion that this might happen.

Who will win: Broncos.

I don't care if the Patriots are tough as hell. I just think that the Broncos are the better team, the stronger team, and therefore, have a better chance to win it. Will it happen? Who's to say. Like I said earlier, these matchups can go either way. I just hope it'll go Manning's way tonight.

The NFL Season vs. Predictability

So, we're a couple weeks away from the end of the season. Four teams remain. In the AFC, the Broncos and Patriots will battle it out. In the NFC, the Seahawks and 49ers will battle it out. These are four strong teams that have deserved their passage into this rung of the playoffs, defied all obstacles, and proven themselves to be strong.

The only problem is that these are the exact four teams everyone thought would be in this stage of the playoffs back in September.

All of us were just waiting for one of the meeker teams to sweep in and take somebody out, or someone unlikely like San Diego to weasel their way in. But it didn't happen. San Diego got their asses kicked yesterday. And the Broncos came in unbeaten.

No. Last year that didn't happen. Last year the Ravens defied every obstacle and managed to sit them on their asses. And then when they played New England THEY DID IT AGAIN. And that Super Bowl you had two underdog teams, by the standards of what people had seen coming.

And maybe last year spoiled me. Because this year, you have four teams that were REALLY supposed to be there getting to the end, no harm done. And everybody would have seen this coming, too. Ask any NFL fan, any unbiased, sportswriter-type NFL fan, who is making the Super Bowl, September 2013. They'll tell you it's a Seahawks-Broncos series. And ask them who else makes the championship series', and this will make them think. They'll guess the 49ers, and then, after they hesitate for a few seconds, they'll answer the Patriots, because they always win.

And this isn't my basis for predictability no. Do you want actual, printed proof that these four teams were DESTINED to be in this rung of the playoffs? SPORTS ILLUSTRATED PREDICTED THIS EXACT MATCHUP!

You look in the NFL Preview issue of Sports Illustrated, and what four teams do they say are gonna make it to the end? Broncos, Seahawks, 49ers, Patriots. ESPN predicted the Seahawks and Broncos to win it, not the other two. They said the Packers and Texans would make it to the end. Why? Because it was unpredictable what would happen to the Texans, and to Aaron Rodgers this season.

Now I'm not gonna cry foul and say they were playing Nostradamus. Why? Because you didn't NEED to be Nostradamus to guess the outcome. The four teams you would THINK would make it to the end, MADE it to the end.

And that's why this NFL season is probably gonna go down as a disappointment. In every playoff game, the team that everyone thought was going to win, won. I was just predicting the teams I wanted to win, because I didn't want it to be too predictable. There was really nothing out of the ordinary in the last few weeks. And I wanted there to be, too. I wanted the teams that nobody would think to get too far, to do so. I wanted the Colts to beat the Patriots, I wanted the Eagles to beat the Saints, I wanted the Bengals to beat the Colts, etc, etc.

I mean, don't get me wrong, this weekend's games will be exciting, and the Super Bowl will be a nail-biter, but that's because the outcomes are the only things that are unpredictable, the scores. I can take a wild guess and say that the Broncos and Seahawks will be in the World Series, however, I can't tell you who wins by how much. And that is why people watch.

The Super Bowl is the one thing no one can predict. Not even Sports Illustrated.

(Footnote- for those of you who think that just because SI got this one right, they're officially world-renown soothsayers, I direct you to their 2012 and 2013 MLB previews. Both years they predicted the Los Angeles Angels to finish first in the AL West. And we all know how well that turned out.)

Football Custom of the Day: Manning Edition

So I have to go over a few things, because right now things are getting very weird over at Mint Condition. Like, Rick Ankiel in 2001 weird.

First of all, my readership has spiked aggressively in the last week, because either a lot of readers or a lot of bots are really liking my RG3 post/Incredibly Wrong Football Predictions. I mean, it's possible that the post was filled with so many good thing about different teams that a lot of people have read it, but I don't think that about 800 people would flock to my blog in a week's span just for a post on football predictions. After all, this is primarily a football card blog.

Besides, the bots are usually good at spiking posts that really don't need to be spiked. I had a post in January 2010 about simply waiting for 2010 Topps, that wasn't much more than a few sentences and a Michael Vick slam. The bots really ate that one up, so much so that last year I rewrote it and made it worthy of that much viewership.

Besides, usually the bots go for posts with banal sounding names, or scantily clad women. Last time I checked, Robert Griffin III is not a woman (though he sure played like one last Monday). I guess people really like the post because of it's length, or something. It's a mystery to me.

Nevertheless, I will post another prediction post tomorrow, which is a challenge to any bots reading this. Go ahead. Make my day.

Speaking of football predictions, I should probably go over the ones from last week.

Patriots-Bills: I predicted a Pats win, and that's exactly what happened, save for a nice fight by EJ Manuel. Point for me.
Bengals-Bears: I predicted the Bengals would win by three, and the Bears won by three. How's for that kinda irony. It was close, though. 1-1.
Dolphins-Browns: I obviously chose the Dolphins to win, which they did. Go me. 2-1.
Falcons-Saints: I predicted a very, very close match here, though I said the Falcons would come out on top. They didn't. The Saints ran away with it. 2-2.
Buccaneers-Jets: Of course, being a man of common sense, I predicted the Bucs would win. However, the Jets somehow snuck past them and won it. This is disappointing, though at least the Patriots got them back on Thursday. 2-3.
Titans-Steelers. I predicted a Steelers win, and the Titans, the largely pathetic Titans, ran away with it. 2-4.
Vikings-Lions. I predicted a high-scoring game that the Vikings would win with 35, the Lions with 24. The scores were exactly flipped. Gah. 2-5.
Raiders-Colts: I guessed it would be an all-out-bloodbath, but the Raiders actually played a decent football game. Yet the Colts still came out in the end. 3-5.
Seahawks-Panthers: I did end up with the right outcome, but I guessed the Hawks would in by 21, when it was a much closer game. Still, I'll take it. 4-5.
Chiefs-Jaguars: I bet on Andy Reid taking it, and I bet on Blaine Gabbert losing it. In Vegas, I'd have gotten myself a nice say. 5-5.
Packers-49ers: I'm a Packer fan, and even though the game was evenly matched, I still saw the Niners coming out on top, which they eventually did. It wasn't a pleasant one to predict, but I still got away with it. 6-5.
Cardinals-Rams: This, to me, was a battle of who was the least awful. In my book, the Rams barely edged out the Cards. It also actually happened. 7-5.
Giants-Cowboys: This one is infuriating, simply because HOW ON EARTH DID THE COWBOYS WIN THIS ONE? I honestly thought the Giants were the better team. Grrr... 7-6.
Eagles-Redskins: Another embarrassing one. I thought the Redskins would take this easily. I should have seen the writing on the wall during RG3's preseason games. Well, the Eagles damn near crushed them. And I thought that they'd be crushed. Me, the Eagle fan. Augh. 7-7.
Texans-Chargers: This one was basically common sense, but it was a lot closer on the ballfield. The Texans, in my opinion, were much stronger than the Chargers, and it turns out I was right. 8-7.

So, I guess I won that one, 8-7. This week, I'll do a custom of whoever I want. Probably somebody from the Eagles.

Coming Tomorrow- Newly traded veteran running back, who had a great day in Week 1.